Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4

Episode 16

The thing about amnesiac Subaru is that he has always lived within the shadow of his former self. There was this guy who, in a single year, became an indispensable part of the lives of the insanely powerful people around him—did the impossible several times over and became a hero in the process. Amnesiac Subaru has never been able to understand how he could become such a person.

This is doubly true after his recent overuse of Return by Death. Despite using the cheat ability of all cheat abilities, he couldn't find victory. Therefore, this mythical original Subaru must have had something he does not—some special power or ability. But as he finds out in this episode, this isn't the case—and that's something incredibly hard to accept.

Through all the trials and tribulations, the original Subaru came to accept and understand himself. He knows his limits; he knows how and when to rely on others. In that one year, he's grown up—and that's something that takes time. Amnesiac Subaru may now have all the experiences from reading the books of the dead, but he hasn't had time to reflect on them—to make peace with all that happened. The original Subaru has. That's truly the only difference between them.

That's why it's no surprise that amnesiac Subaru doesn't fight them merging into one. Sure, he's scared, but each moment amnesiac Subaru has with the memories of the original, they have more time to settle. And the original Subaru has, for a brief moment, someone who actually understands all he's been through and is in awe of it—someone who is proud of all that Subaru has done. The willpower to keep trying—and the love behind that willpower—those are Subaru's true superpowers.

However, with Subaru back to normal, the Rui clone that has been riding in his head (almost certainly the thing that had been tormenting him and causing his blackouts) is expelled. And she, lacking that love and the resulting willpower, is terrified. She sees him as an inhuman monster—which is saying something coming from her. And even after she expels him back to the real world, she is unable to explain to her own original self just how bad of an idea their plan was. And more importantly, riding in Subaru's head has taught her to fear death. That means she won't be going down without a fight—even if the opponent is herself. Thus, we get a battle that's basically an ouroboros, leaving us to question: when they're done feeding on each other, what will be left?

The other big question is if this will be the loop where Subaru manages to put everything right. It looks like Emilia got her name eaten already, so it might be too late—or maybe beating Lye will restore that along with everything taken from Rem. We'll just have to tune in next week to see.

Rating:

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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.